Monday Bird Droppings: Henderson and Hyde receive awards in New York.

Happy Monday, Camden Chatters. To the Ravens fans in the crowd, my condolences. I know you weren’t ready for it to be declared baseball season in Baltimore quite so early, but here we are. With the elimination of the Ravens from the NFL postseason, there is nothing more to look forward to for Baltimore sports fans than the start of baseball.

It wasn’t much of a consolation to me in the immediate aftermath of the Orioles being eliminated by the Rangers and I expect isn’t much consolation to Ravens fans right now, but Baltimore sports is in such a good place right now. The final outcomes stunk but there is so much to like and enjoy at this moment.

Unfortunately, there is still quite a while until the baseball actually starts. We’re just about two weeks from the start of spring training but still 59 days from Opening Day on March 28th. That’s a long time!

I’ve concluded that the Orioles are going to go into the season with what they have now and roll the dice that it’ll be enough. It’s not what I expected and it’s not what I preferred, but it seems to be what’s happening. But this is a good team, we all know that. So maybe it’ll work out.

In other news, this weekend Gunnar Henderson and Brandon Hyde were presented with their Rookie of the Year and Manager of the Year Awards by the BBWAA. Hyde made the bold choice to go with a bowtie with his tux, while Henderson appears to be wearing velour.

Zimmermann and Akin say they are healthy and a full go for spring – Steve Melewski
I don’t blame Steve Melewski for focusing on Bruce Zimmermann and Keegan Akin, because that’s who was at the Birdland Caravan. But if people are still writing stories about them during the season, we’ll be in trouble.

Sanders offers strong endorsement of Kjerstad’s outfield defense, Wells and Irvin unsure of roles – Blog
Anthony Sanders has kind things to say about Heston Kjerstad. I am looking forward to seeing what he can do for sure.

Jackson Holliday is MLB Pipeline’s 2024 top overall prospect – MLB.com
I’m sure you’ve already seen this but can we really mention it too many times?

Birthdays and History

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have two Orioles birthday buddies. John Habyan (60) pitched for the Orioles from 1985-88 but topped 10 appearances in just one season, 1987. And Jair Jurrjens (38) pitched in two games for the Orioles in 2013. Not a banner day for birthday buddies, I gotta say.

On this day in 1994, the Orioles signed future Hall of Famer Lee Smith to one-year contract.

In 1998, they signed Ozzie Guillén to a minor league deal. Guillén played in just 12 games with the Orioles before being released.

In 2002, the Orioles traded for Chris Singleton. He played in 136 games for the team that year.

In 2007, the Orioles claimed Jeremy Guthrie on waivers from Cleveland. That worked out pretty well for them.

In 2021, the Orioles signed Spenser Watkins. That also worked out about as well as could be expected.